Eddie Howe reserved special praise for Nick Woltemade after big win at Aston Villa as gamble paid off
One of Eddie Howe's more annoying traits for Newcastle United fans is his stubbornness to stick with what he believes is working when all around him think differently.
Whether that is persisting with a player who is obviously not in form, or sticking rigidly to his formation when it's clearly not working.
However, when Howe does try something new, it very often works and there's no bigger example of that than the transformation of Joelinton from struggling striker to beast of a box-to-box midfielder.
Last night, Howe had another one of those moments, asking Nick Woltemade to play in midfield against Aston Villa. When we saw the lineup, we assumed that it may have been Will Osula who'd be asked to play in midfield, given he's played on the wing and up front. Although our best guess was that Woltemade would play behind Osula in a number 10 role, but Howe confirmed that Big Nick was part of the midfield trio.
Sandro Tonali and Nick Woltemade got back in the scoring groove
It was a move that worked well for the German, who was a lot more involved in the play than he has been of late when playing as a lone striker, and he even got himself back on the scoresheet, much to the gaffer's delight as he spoke to reporters after the game. (h/t The Shields Gazette)
“We needed players to step up in Bruno's absence, we needed the creativity gap that Bruno [Guimaraes] will leave, we needed the passion that Bruno shows on the pitch, and I thought all three midfielders did that,” Howe said.
“Sandro's got two goals, Nick's got a goal, so our midfielders contributed massively, and I'm really pleased with everybody, and we're going to need that in his absence throughout the time that he's out.”
Howe says Nick Woltemade was signed as an attacker but he's found something new in him
Howe went on to explain the decision to drop Woltemade into the midfield.
“He arrived as an attacker, really. I knew his best work was done low on the pitch, coming deep to link play.
“One of the reasons we wanted to sign him was his technical ability, added with a lot of other strengths that he's got. So, even when we were playing as a 9, we were encouraging him to come deeper on the pitch.
“Today, we started him deeper on the pitch. I don't think there's a massive difference between the two, but I think when he's playing and starting deeper, obviously, there's a bigger defensive responsibility and that's where I have to give him particular praise because he understood what the team needed.
“He understood the importance of the defensive aspect and I thought he was outstanding today.”
Could we be about to see the evolution of Woltemade?
